France head coach Didier Deschamps has dropped Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe from Les Bleus squad for this month’s matches in the UEFA Nations League, Afrosport reports.
The 56-year-old former France international revealed in an interview on Thursday that the decision to not include Mbappe in the squad was a “one-off” adding that the striker was eager to join the rest of his compatriots.
“I had discussions with Kylian [Mbappe] and made my decision,” Deschamps said. “It’s better this way. Mbappe wanted to come with us, it’s not because of any other problem”.
Mbappe was also omitted from the French squad last month due to injury, as he missed their Nations League games against Israel and Belgium.
The Los Blancos forward has been struggling for form recently, having scored only one goal in his past six matches. The 25-year-old has scored eight goals and provided two assists across 15 matches in all competitions for the Spanish club.
Meanwhile, Deschamps has called upon Mbappe’s club teammate Eduardo Camavinga; Saudi-based midfielder N’Golo Kante; Bayern Munich duo of Dayot Upamecano and Michael Olise; defenders William Saliba and Jules Kounde; and Paris St Germain duo of Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola in his 23-man squad.
𝐋𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄 pour le dernier rassemblement de l’année de nos Bleus 📋
Félicitations à Lucas Chevalier pour sa première dans le groupe 🇫🇷🙌#FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/RIS2oyWvAA
— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) November 7, 2024
France are second with nine points in Group A2, where they sit a point behind leaders Italy after four games. They will return to action on November 14 when they host Israel at the Stade de France, before heading to the San Siro to take on the Azzurri three days later.
